Coming Home
by El Chacal
Summary: What if Richard Harrow had gone with Jimmy to the war memorial that night? New chapter uploaded.
1. Chapter 1

Coming Home

By: El Chacal

Summary: What if Richard Harrow was there with Jimmy at the war memorial? Could one man change everything?

Disclaimer: I only own the idea for this story. No copyright infringement is being committed and no profit is being made. Please do not sue me. Thank you.

* * *

><p>"I'm going with you." Richard said with resolve. Getting up from the chair, he was about to get his hat and coat on when Jimmy halted him. "This is something I have to do myself."<p>

"I can. Take care of this. For you." Richard protested. Before Jimmy could restrain him, Richard had walked over to his cache and started loading his Webley .455 revolver, Smith & Wesson 'Triple Lock' revolver and his Colt 1903 pocket hammerless pistol, holstering them on his person before grabbing his coat and hat.

"As much as I appreciate this, you can not interfere with what will happen tonight." Jimmy spoke, catching Richard's undivided attention.

Richard saw the look in the other man's eyes. He knew that look all too well. It was the look of a soldier who knew the end was near. "What will happen. When we get to the memorial?"

"What is going to happen is what needs to happen. Angela was killed because of me. Tommy lost his mother because of my actions. I have to set things right for his sake." Richard didn't have to speculate on what he was referring to. Angela Darmody was both Jimmy's wife and one of his few friends. Both Angela and Jimmy had high hopes for Tommy. If God could forgive Jimmy for all he did, perhaps he and Angela would be reunited in Heaven.

"There is a safe deposit box at the Four Deuces on Warbash in Chicago. Ask Mr. Torrio about it and he'll see that you receive it. I have some things in there for you." Handing Richard the keys to the box, Jimmy grimaced when he saw the look of realization on Richard's face. "Don't cry for me. I have caused enough trouble as it is. I don't deserve tears."

"Who are you. To say. What you deserve?" Richard said gruffly. Though it was not spoken, Richard could tell that Jimmy was trying to push him away from what he believed to be the inevitable. "I do not recall. Leaving a fellow soldier. To die alone. I am not. Starting now."

* * *

><p>The ran began to fall hard over the grounds of the war memorial when they arrived.<p>

"For what it's worth. Through it all. Thank you. Jimmy. My friend." Richard said.

"Remember what you promised me." James said, referring to the promise that Richard would at least try to 'come home' from 'over there'. "I'll try. For you. And Angela."

Walking out with their hats on into the rain, Jimmy and Richard saw the headlights of a car in the distance before Nucky emerged from it with Manny Horvitz and Owen Slater in tow.

"James, I thought this was private between you and me." Nucky said in reference to Richard who was standing right behind Jimmy.

Through his one good eye, Richard stared a hole through the Jewish butcher that murdered Angela.

"So now you can have your revenge, boychick." Manny said to Jimmy, who seemed unshaken. "Unless your masked friend beats you to it."

"Is this what it is?" Jimmy asked before both he and Richard heard the familiar sound of a shotgun being cocked from behind. Quicker than a hiccup, Richard drew his S&W 'Triple Lock' and Webley .455 revolvers on Sheriff Eli Thompson.

"That shotgun won't be. Much to you. If you have. A bullet. Between your eyes. Sheriff Thompson." Richard said grimly to the brother of Nucky Thompson.

"Richard, don't." Jimmy said, knowing full well that Richard would not refrain from blasting Eli Thompson with both firearms.

"I would listen to him if I were you, Harrow." Nucky said. "Tommy Darmody would not like the idea of losing his godfather so soon after losing his parents."

Jimmy looked as shocked at Richard was at the news but for different reasons. Richard had no idea Jimmy and Angela thought so highly of him that they would name him godfather to their only son. "How did you know?" Jimmy asked.

"I run and own this town, James. There's not much of anything that happens in this town that I do not know about. Have I taught you nothing?"

Glancing over at Manny, Jimmy saw that he was not bound and restrained.

Owen walked up to Jimmy and frisked him for weapons. Eli even made mention of the trench knife Jimmy kept in his boot.

"I'm not armed." Jimmy spoke moments before Owen stopped and confirmed it before rejoining Manny Horvitz.

"This is the only way it could have ended, is it?" Jimmy asked.

"This was your choice, James." Nucky said with an annoyed and angry tone in his voice.

"I died in the trenches. Years back. I thought you knew that." Jimmy said in acceptance of his circumstances. "So who's going to do it? Manny? Owen?"

Looking behind himself to find Richard and Eli in a standoff, Jimmy turned back to Nucky and asked, "Eli?"

"I am." Nucky said as he drew a revolver from the inside of his suit jacket, pointing it right at Jimmy. Though he tried to look angry and resolved, Nucky was breaking apart on the inside.

Despite everything that happened, Nucky still loved Jimmy like a son.

Once Richard saw the gun in Nucky's hand, he pointed the S&W revolver at Nucky and aimed the Webley revolver at Eli. "Richard, lower the guns. I don't want my son orphaned." Richard lowered the Smith & Wesson revolver he was pointing at Nucky but kept the Webley aimed at Eli so he couldn't interfere either.

"My first time, I vomited after." Jimmy spoke, trying in a way to calm Nucky's nerves. "Two days straight. Second time, I didn't think about it."

"So fucking stupid." Nucky snapped.

"Just try to make yourself calm." Jimmy said, aware of how Nucky was trying to psyche himself mentally and emotionally. "You had everything going for you."

"Breathe, Nucky." Jimmy continued, his calm voice only spurring Nucky forward.

"Your whole life." By now, the pistol was aimed high enough to be pointed right at Jimmy's face.

"You'll get through this. All you gotta worry about is when you run out of booze and when you run out of company. And all that's left to judge you is your.."

The gun shot that rang through the air was enough to make Richard turn away from Eli Thompson in time to see Jimmy fall backwards to the ground with a gun shot wound through his face.

Walking over to where he could stand over his fallen prey, Nucky Thompson stared down at the young man who lay bleeding from the face. "You don't know me, James. You never did."

With the revolver pointed straight at Jimmy's head as the rain fell from the dark sky, Nucky said, "I. Am not. Seeking. Forgiveness."

Richard watched helplessly as Nucky delivered the kill shot.

Approaching the World War veteran and former marksman, Nucky kept his gun at the ready. "If the well being of Thomas Darmody means anything to you, Mr. Harrow, do not attempt to avenge James or Angela."

Nucky was glad in many ways that Eli was there totting a scattergun while he stood before Richard Harrow. All the same, Nucky would want to keep the skilled marksman exactly where he could see him at all times. "You work for me now."

Pushing Nucky aside, Richard walked over to the lifeless body that once was his boss, friend and brother in arms. Kneeling at Jimmy's side, Richard reached over and gently closed the dead man's eyes. After holstering his revolvers and rising up from the ground, Richard Harrow raised his right hand to his forehead and gave a proper army salute to James Darmody.

* * *

><p>An: I m contemplating on whether or not to make a second chapter involving Richard Harrow and Gillian Darmody. What do you think? Reviews encourage me to write.


	2. Chapter 2

He could smell the sweet aroma of bacon sizzling on the pan, the potatoes and fried eggs on the plate. The texture of the freshly baked muffins hot from the stove fills his mind.

A kind smile. Eyes void of fear or disgust.

He remembers this of Angela Darmody, one of his two best friends in the world.

Richard often pushed his food around the plate, fearful that Jimmy would be put off on how he could only eat through the right side of his mouth. He recalls distinctly how Jimmy always made sure that there was a straw in his drink, whether it was the good bourbon on the bottom shelf or whenever Angela poured him a glass of milk.

Tommy looked in many ways like his mother yet acted very much at times like his father. This made Richard hopeful and fearful.

Another memory comes to mind. Angela is sat across from Richard. She is sketching him for a portrait. He tells her about his sister, Emma. How she cared for him, nursed him back to health and loved him dearly even when he lost any sentimental feeling after the war.

Though her voice is only in his memory, Richard hears Angela tell him something she would never reveal to anyone, especially Jimmy. She leaned in close and whispered, "You will never lose me, Richard. I will always be in your heart, even if your mind fails you in old age."

Richard could not, for the life of him, pinpoint exactly at what point it happened. Angela reached over and laid a chaste kiss on his forehead.

* * *

><p>Munya Horvitz had just finished the final cuts of brisket and sirloin steaks for the day when the door of his butcher shop opened and in walked the one person he did not expect to see again.<p>

"Mr. Horvitz. You and I. Have unresolved business. To attend to."

Richard Harrow stood there in the doorway with a scowl on his face. "Mr. Harrow. Are you here to take retribution for Darmody?"

"For Jimmy? No. It was not you. Who killed him." Richard said, walking up to him, taking out from the inner right pocket of his coat three thick envelopes and his Smith & Wesson 'Triple Lock' revolver from his shoulder holster. "Angela Darmody. Was a friend of mine. A mother to a child. Who now must grow up. Without his parents."

Raising his right hand, which held the revolver, Richard pulled back the hammer. What scared Munya more than the gun was the look in Richard's eye. "I could easily. Kill you. That will not bring Angela. Back to me. Or to her son. Killing you. Will only rob. A woman of her husband. And another woman. Of her father."

Pushing the hammer back into the safe position, Richard holstered it.

With his left hand, Richard handed Munya the three envelopes. Opening the first one, Munya found a lot of hundred dollar notes stuffed inside. "Jimmy made a deal. To fill your speaks. He did not. Honor the arrangement. And he took five thousand dollars. From your pocket. You have in your hands. A total of 15,000 dollars."

"15,000? That is three times what Darmody took from me? Why would you give this to me?"

"I'm not giving it. To you, Mr. Horvitz. The first five thousand. Repays the debt. There are no more debts between us. The second five thousand. Takes away any reason. I may have. To shoot you. In front of your wife. And your daughter. The third five thousand. Incentive. To never threaten or harm Thomas Darmody. Am I clear?"

"Completely clear." Munya said. A handshake was sufficient closure for both men.

As Richard walked away, Munya said, "Before you go, there is something I would like to give you. My meager attempt at penance for robbing a boy of his mother." Reaching below the counter, Munya pulled out a parcel filled with several beef loin sirloin steaks, a rump roast, a dozen links of sausage, 2 dozen bulbs of garlic, a pound of smoked brisket, 3 chickens, rib eye steaks and 2 dozen T-Bone steaks.

Taking the parcel in hand, Richard looked at Munya. "This does not give the boy his mother back, I know. The only comfort this gives me is that he will not starve."

"Thank you. If there is business. To be had. And money to be made. I will contact you."

"Until then, Shalom, Mr. Harrow."

"Until then, Mr. Horvitz."

* * *

><p>An: What do you think? Harrow dealt with Horvitz without causing pain and misery. It also shows Horvitz that the masked man was no 'boychick' that would take him for a chump. Leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter. I know there was mention of Gillian Darmody being in this chapter but there was no room for her...yet. Time will tell when she shines in.


End file.
